In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, we, the inventors, typically hybridize a large number of nectarine, peach, plum, apricot, and cherry seedlings each year. The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of peach tree, which has been denominated varietally as `White Princess`. The present variety was hybridized in 1991 by us in a cultivated area of our experimental orchard at Bradford Farms near Le Grand, Calif. in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley). It was developed as a first generation cross using an unnamed yellow flesh genetically dwarf peach seedling as the selected seed parent and `August Snow` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,947) white flesh nectarine as the selected pollen parent. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of peach tree, we asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects.
The fruit produced by the present variety exhibits the desirable characteristics common to its pollen parent, `August Snow` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,947) white flesh rectarine, by producing freestone fruit that is white in flesh color, sweet sub-acid in flavor, firm in texture, and mostly red in skin color, but is distinguished therefrom and an improvement thereon by producing fruit that is larger in size, rounder in shape, and peach instead of nectarine.
The present variety is differs significantly from its selected seed parent by being genetically tall instead of dwarf and by producing fruit that is white in flesh color rather than yellow, that is much firmer in texture, and that is sub-acid in flavor instead of acidic.